Fans of the Bronte sisters, poet Sylvia Plath and artist David Hockney can stay in a Georgian Retreat House and visit the nearby towns where these artisans are immortalized.

Written by eileen on July 29th, 2011

Set in rural Warwickshire and standing beside a historic 14th century church, the Retreat House is embraced by its own gardens that overlook the verdant countryside. Close by, the village of Morley was formerly the site of quarries, now a wildlife reserve. The village’s main attraction is the Parish Church of St. Mathew where some of the finest displays of medieval stained glass windows in the country can be admired. Much of the glass came from Dale Abbey at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The church boasts a Norman nave while the tower, chancel and north chapel date to the late 14th and early 15th century.

HE story of the Brontes is one of the saddest in the annals of literature. They were the children of a father who was both cold and violent, and of a gentle, sickly mother, early lost. They were reared amid surroundings the most gloomy and unhealthful, and cursed as they grew older with a brother who brought them shame and sorrow in return for the love they lavished upon him.

Bronte aficionados will want to visit nearby Haworth, famous for its connections with the famous sisters who lived at Haworth Parsonage and wrote some of their most famous novels including Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. Now the Bronte Parsonage Museum, the rooms are meticulously furnished as they were in the Bronte era and include many personal treasures. Evoking the Bronte sisters’ novels are a number of local walks such as Bronte Falls and Bronte Bridge.

In early morning of 11 February 1963, Plath took her own life. She placed her head in a gas oven after completely sealing the rooms between herself and her children. She left a note for the man who lived downstairs, Trevor Thomas, to call her doctor. However, rather than rising, the gas seeped through the floor and knocked Mr Thomas out cold for several hours. An au pair girl was to arrive at nine o'clock that morning to help Plath with the care of her children. Arriving promptly at 9, the au pair could not get into the flat. It has been suggested that Plath's timing & planning of this suicide attempt was too precise, too coincidental, not to be "serious" or intended. She had previously asked Mr Thomas what time he would be leaving. Plath must have turned the gas on at a time when Mr Thomas should have been waking & beginning his day. A note was placed that read "Call Dr Horder" and left his phone number. These measures were too time-sensitive and could have saved Plath's life if events followed her suggested logic.

In the interesting mill town of Hebden Bridge, the houses hang precariously from the steep valley sides. An ancient town, it grew up close to the River Hebden at the point where a stone bridge was built as part of a packhorse route in the 16th century. Heptonstall, above the town shows its antiquity in narrow cobbled streets lined with 500-year old cottages and the ruins of a 13th century church. It is the churchyard though that attracts visitors and the place where the poet Sylvia Plath is buried.

At nearby Hebden Water is an area known as the “crags,” an arena of footpaths encompassing a medley of natural and archaeological history, passing through dense woodland alive with oak, ash, beech and pine trees. In springtime, these lofty trees spread their branches over a carpet of vibrant, gently nodding bluebells. Gibson Mill offers hands-on exhibits and provides insight into the lives of the people who toiled at the mill for up to 72 hours a week, often for very little reward.

Another interesting side trip can include Saltaire, a perfectly preserved village of honey-colored cottages that originated as an answer to Bradford’s “dark, satanic mills.” Now recognized as a World Heritage Site, the former Salt Mill has been transformed into an art gallery and houses works of the famous Bradford born artist David Hockney. The village is also home to a historic gem, the United Reform Church, a Victorian structure and an exquisite example of Italianate religious architecture.